Editorial | Ghost of courts' future

Justice Roberts

Invoking the specter of Charles Dickens' ghosts from "A Christmas Carol," John Roberts, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, has offered a compelling account of what harsh budget cuts are doing to the federal court system.

Congress, which controls the purse strings, ought to be as scared as Ebenezer Scrooge was by the ghost of Christmas yet to come if it continues its miserly ways through the federal budget meat-ax known as sequester cuts.

Without additional funds and easing of the cuts, the "consequences pose a genuine threat to public safety," he said.

The conservative Justice Roberts, appointed by former President George W. Bush, simply is stating the truth. It is the result of what some reckless members of Congress have done in their zeal to slash government and pander to the tea party.

A federal court system that has "become a model for justice throughout the world" is now at risk - at risk of not properly prosecuting, defending and supervising those charged with crimes, not effectively managing civil litigation and failing to process bankruptcy cases, his report said.

Vital areas such as Head Start, education, the military and national parks all have suffered from the mindless mandatory cuts of the sequester, effects only partially relieved by the recent, two-year budget agreement in Congress.

When the nation's top judge sounds the alarm, surely Congress can't turn away.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Editorial | Ghost of courts' future

Invoking the specter of Charles Dickens' ghosts from 'A Christmas Carol,' John Roberts, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, has offered a compelling account of what harsh budget cuts are doing